Jehovah’s Witnesses Want You!

They are one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Most people know them by the all too familiar knock on the door on Saturday mornings. Proselytizing, or the field service, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to it is the central activity of this movement.

Where did this group come from and what are their beliefs? Are they really Christians or are they a cult ruled and controlled by men? This post and others to follow will attempt to address these questions in detail. I’ll leave it to you to form your own opinion after reviewing the material presented.

As a former member of this group for over twenty three years I have the unique ability to be able to speak about Jehovah’s Witnesses and their beliefs both honestly and fairly. Everything presented here is the truth. Any honest Jehovah’s Witness will have to grudgingly admit that I’m not telling you anything that isn’t an established fact.

“Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses constantly knock on my door?”

They knock on your door because they want you and need you. They say that they are at your door to share the good news of the kingdom with you but there is an underlying reason for their being on your doorstep. They are recruiting and indoctrinating people just like you all over the world every day of the week. It begins with “placing” a magazine or book with you. This gets their foot in the door. They’ve left literature with you and that gives them a reason to come back on what they call a “Return Visit”. Know that your address, name and possibly even your phone number and email address may have been added to their “little book”. Then they come back in a few days to a week to talk more and to ask more questions. Then they make the offer: A free in-home bible study. What could be more innocent or beneficial? This is how most of the current members of Jehovah’s Witnesses get indoctrinated into the group and now begins “the process”.

First for the bible study instead of the actual bible they use one of the books, published by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, that they placed with you. They say things like: “This makes bible study easier than just reading the bible.” Or “Scriptures are cited in the book so this is just as good as reading the bible.” If you were to insist on just reading your bible with them they wouldn’t come back. These Watchtower books are colorfully bound and well illustrated to make them more attractive to potential recruits and pose questions at the bottom of each page or at the end of each chapter. The elaborate illustrations also serve to make the subject matter “real” in the mind of the student and communicate this to the subconscious in ways that mere words simply can’t. The questions are about the material presented in each chapter and one can find the answers by underlining or highlighting them in the book. This repetitive process is strongly encouraged. What happens is these question and answer sessions are repeated in the mind of the student over and over to the point that they are internalized subconsciously. When the Jehovah’s Witness recruiters come by they will sit with you for about an hour to study a chapter of the book starting with chapter 1. They will usually come in pairs. This is by design. When they have two people to one you are outnumbered and it gives them the upper hand both psychologically as well as allowing them to train new recruits to duplicate the process. This process of “bible study” is progressive and designed to gradually introduce you to the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses over a period of three to six months.

If they came out and told you up front that they don’t celebrate any holidays, refuse life saving blood transfusions both for themselves and their children (even infants), forbid saluting the United States flag, voting or serving their country in the armed forces then you’d kick them out of your home without a second thought. If they told you that all religions except theirs are “of the Devil” you’d laugh in their faces and ask them to leave so they wait…and continue to drip on you with the “good stuff”. This “good stuff” is comprised of their teaching that you can live forever in paradise on earth and that you never have to die because Armageddon is coming soon. They’ll make reference to whatever global crisis is happening at the time as an indicator and then read scriptures designed to build on your fear that perhaps they could be right. What could appeal more to anyone than the prospect of never having to face the one thing (death) that scares us more than anything else? They also strongly encourage quitting bad habits like smoking, gambling, bad language and drinking to excess. These are all obviously bad habits and you’ve always wanted to quit them anyway so this is as good a reason as any to finally clean up your act right? (In sales this is called gaining agreement on minor points and is an extremely powerful psychological tool in getting a buyer “YOU” to agree to the bigger more difficult to swallow things later in the presentation.) The Witnesses will further add that it will be much easier to quit these bad habits if you cut down on or stop associating with friends or family that engages in them at least for awhile during your “quitting phase”. They’ll often and repeatedly quote the mantra “Bad association spoils useful habits.”

You’ll notice that every time they come that they are prompt and very well dressed to the 9’s as they say. They are articulate and well versed in the books that they study. They are clean cut. They have excellent manners. Let’s face it: Jehovah’s Witnesses are very impressive up close and personal. This is engineered BY DESIGN to intimidate you and to get you to follow their lead and to make similar adjustments in your life.

These recruiters will warn you that studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses will incur the wrath of friends and family and that you will be insulted and ridiculed by them as a result. They will tell you that it would be a bad idea to even mention that you are studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses until you’ve gotten more knowledgeable. You also might be warned about reading material whether in books or online written by former Jehovah’s Witnesses because it is designed to deceive you and prevent you from learning “the truth”. This is meant to insulate you from the well meaning and honest advice from friends, family and pastors regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is considered by Jehovah’s Witnesses as “the golden time” and is the most crucial period of time where the householder (as they call them) is most “fragile”.

After a period of time (this can be several weeks to several months) you will be invited to a Sunday meeting to hear a public talk and to hear the discussion of the latest Watchtower magazine. They will ask you to cut your hair if it is long or wear your “best suit” to the event.

So you’ve been invited to the Kingdom Hall to hear the public talk this Sunday and you accepted. Usually the recruiter will insist on picking you up and dropping you back home when the meeting is over. You got a hair cut and shaved your beard. You went out and bought a new suit. You look and feel fabulous! You walk with your new friend into an unassuming looking building with little or no windows. You immediately notice that all of the other Jehovah’s Witnesses of all races are immaculately dressed as well, clean cut and smiling. They are genuinely happy to be here and they are so friendly. You walk into the hall and are immediately greeted by a procession of people who are genuinely happy to see you! They introduce themselves. They are polite. They smile. They welcome you with open arms. You are literally walking on air and you feel as if you are a rock star seeing your fans for the first time. This too is specifically engineered BY DESIGN to overwhelm you with positive emotions and feedback. Who wouldn’t want to come back to a room full of people so happy to see YOU? This is nothing like the other churches. These people are truly happy. They are clean, have healthy habits and have a purpose in life.

“There really must be something to this Jehovah’s Witness religion!” you say to yourself. “All of my friends are dead wrong about these people.”

Your bible study continues as does your attendance at the Kingdom Hall. You begin to form relationships with others at the Hall. You and / or your family get invited to a group gathering at someone’s home or park. You are again amazed at how nice everyone is. You haven’t heard a single curse word or crude joke since you started associating with these people. Their children are so well behaved too!

Time flies. You’ve been attending the Kingdom Hall, the weekly “bookstudy” at another Witness’ home. You’ve continued with your studies in the book that was originally placed with you and then the day finally comes that your weekly “free” in-home bible study is over. You’ve completed the book. You’ve answered all the questions. You understand now that instead of being a time of giving and reflection on Christ that Christmas is an evil and satanic holiday. You realize that all other religions are deceiving their adherents and that they are “of the devil”. You know in your heart of hearts that voting and serving in the military is wrong. You know that the government, all governments are led and run by Satan. Though it was a really difficult decision you have accepted the fact that if you or one of your family members were to be in dire need of a blood transfusion even to the point of death that you would refuse it for yourself, your wife and even for your infant child because it goes against the teachings of the bible.

You have decided to go “out in service” door to door at the behest of your bible study conductor and because if you don’t that you could be “blood guilty” by not witnessing to others about the good news of the kingdom. If Armageddon came next week and you didn’t go out in service and witness to enough people you and your family might not live through Armageddon being destroyed by God “in the day of His anger”.

Suddenly you find yourself out in field service knocking on doors and doing the same thing that was done to you…

What has been done to you?

Simply this: The cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses have located you, isolated you, and assimilated you into their worldwide organization.

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About Me

Hi I'm Doug Shields.
I was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses for twenty-three years of my life. I finally realized that they didn't have "the truth" and I left the organization.

That decision cost me members of my family, my friends, my reputation, and in some respects, my identity. I had to rebuild my life one brick at a time.

Today I'm a happy, productive, and highly fulfilled person.

The purpose of this blog is to help others who are experiencing strained or broken relationships, self destructive behavior, addictions, depression, and low self esteem as a direct result of involvement in destructive mind control cults.

I hope you find this blog to be as helpful to you in reading it as is to me in writing it.